Question

The wonderful thing about this course is it offers people the opportunity to be truly self-directed learners. You choose to learn what you want according to your interests. Moreover, your approaches will vary. In that vein, many a development in science has come from adapting tips, techniques, and concepts from other disciplines.

Answer the following questions:

In that spirit, remind us of your learning objective and please share with your cohorts some of your research strategies and source selection criteria. What is your strategy to accumulate the information you will need?

How will you discriminate amongst the pieces you find as to their respective relative value?

Answer 1

Based on self-observation and personal interest, an extremely important and foremost learning objective would be to self-familiarize and expose to the world of online teaching or e-teaching. Now, considering the vast expanse and comprehensively diverse methodological techniques of online teaching, it is imperative to narrow down the learning criteria and parameters on the basis of personal priorities, preferences, and requirements or needs. First, based on the personal need and the demand of most of the students from various educational levels and backgrounds, video teaching or tutoring is the most accepted and common teaching method and hence, it is essential to learn about the various techniques and mechanisms of effective video shoots which include ensuring proper video clarity, resolution, quality, background, editing, adequate and attractive animations, voice-overs, and so on. Therefore, as the foremost learning criteria for selecting any online or offline(face to face) teaching or course-making course, effective and attractive video making is extremely critical based on the need of the hour. Secondly, it is also extremely important and helpful to learn to upload learning materials and resources online either in the form of Microsoft word, PDF, PPTs, excel sheets, WPS writer, or any other recognizable and legible form for the students which would effectively supplement the video lectures on any concerned topic or subject. In this context, in the first place it is imperative to learn about effective notes making and preparation by using any of the online writing tools or resources mentioned above. Hence, effective online learning material or resource can be another learning criteria or condition for choosing any course on online teaching or tutoring. Thirdly, based on personal convenience and technical complications, it might also be useful to learn about teaching methods and techniques other tha video lectures such as online podcasts, audio files, visual notes, etc. which can be another learning expectation from any course on online teaching. In this regard, the learning capacities and preferences of the students might differ as well and adapting to various learning methods and methodologies is critical in this respect. Fourthly, the course price or cost is an economic consideration based on personal preference and willingness to pay for the concerned course. Thus, it is also essential to research about and compare between various course prices before making final course selection on online teaching, in this case.

Now, based on all these criteria and conditions for choosing a course on online or e-teaching, much of the required research information and facts can be predominantly obtained from the internet and various social media platforms. In this regard, information about various course descriptions, learning criteria, expectations, pricing is mostly available in the internet. Aside from the online research, it is also advisable to rely on word of mouth or any feedback or suggestion from someone who has taken any course on the concerned or similar topic or subject as any personal experience in choosing or selecting any educational course can be considered as a valuable guidance for others. Furthermor, considering personal convenience of the learners and based on the present market situation pertaining to education and learning, it would be reasonable to thoroughly explore some of the online course platforms or mediums such as Udemy, Coursera, Thinkific, Teachable, various public and private universities/colleges website, private course selling websites, and so on to see the available courses on online teaching or tutoring along with their descriptions, expectations, and other relevant specifications. These are convenient platforms to investigate or enquire about various educational, academic, and vocational courses on various subjects or topics including all the required information on the learning criteria, expectations, and the pricing or cost related to the respective courses.